{"id":241490,"date":"2026-02-24T11:00:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T16:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=241490"},"modified":"2026-02-24T11:00:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T16:00:06","slug":"sean-jeffery-helps-launch-new-apha-deprescribing-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/02\/sean-jeffery-helps-launch-new-apha-deprescribing-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Sean Jeffery helps launch new APhA deprescribing program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deprescribing is\u00a0the process in which medical professionals\u00a0consider\u00a0discontinuing\u00a0a prescription.\u00a0Deprescribing can happen for a\u00a0variety\u00a0of reasons. Whether\u00a0someone is\u00a0experiencing\u00a0side effects or\u00a0the\u00a0indication\u00a0for\u00a0medication\u00a0changes,\u00a0deprescribing\u00a0could be helpful.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sean Jeffery, Clinical Professor at the UConn School of Pharmacy,\u00a0says there are many\u00a0things\u00a0providers\u00a0have to\u00a0think about before deprescribing a patient.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome meds you can just stop, some you need to carefully\u00a0taper, but\u00a0regardless,\u00a0we want to do it in a way where the patient, provider and family\u00a0are\u00a0included in the process,\u201d Jeffery said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sean
Sean Jeffery on Jan. 15, 2020. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jeffery\u00a0has been studying deprescribing, especially in older patients,\u00a0for quite some time.\u00a0He noted that\u00a0during his time as a student at the\u00a0school,\u00a0he met some mentors that helped aid his interest in deprescribing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeffery\u2019s\u00a0interest in deprescribing in older adults was\u00a0sparked\u00a0by\u00a0retired\u00a0UConn preceptor\u00a0Dennis\u00a0Chapron, a pharmacist who worked at\u00a0the\u00a0Hebrew Home and Hospital at the time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chapron\u00a0sat Jeffery down and\u00a0pointed out who he would be caring for in the middle of his career.\u00a0That guidance\u00a0inspired\u00a0Jeffery\u00a0to\u00a0want to learn about geriatric pharmacy\u00a0and how he can help older adults.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That advice helped Jeffery\u00a0find his next mentor, Joe Hanlon,\u00a0now retired\u00a0pharmacy professor\u00a0from\u00a0University\u00a0of\u00a0Pittsburgh.\u00a0Hanlon helped Jeffery\u00a0learn the process of what medications\u00a0are and are not\u00a0appropriate\u00a0for\u00a0older adults.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ever since\u00a0those two interactions,\u00a0Jeffery has worked to\u00a0raise awareness\u00a0and educate people on\u00a0deprescribing in geriatric\u00a0patients,\u00a0and the\u00a0APhA\u00a0website helps with that initiative.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeffery said that himself and\u00a0Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine,\u00a0Jennifer Pruskowski,\u00a0PharmD\u00a0started working on\u00a0the\u00a0\u201cDeprescribing in Older Adults\u201d\u00a0program before\u00a0the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent\u00a0time\u00a0developing the concept and working with potential funding sources. \u00a0When we finally found a foundation to support the\u00a0work, COVID\u00a0hit,\u201d Jeffery said.\u00a0\u201cThen all\u00a0the\u00a0foundations\u00a0were directing resources\u00a0to COVID-19 related activities and so we pivoted.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeffery and Perkowski then decided it would be easier\u00a0to\u00a0start\u00a0the program\u00a0with pharmacists since they had\u00a0the connections\u00a0within their professions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeffery, who was on the\u00a0APhA\u00a0board of trustees at the time,\u00a0reached out to\u00a0the\u00a0APhA\u00a0\u00a0Vice\u00a0President of Education\u00a0and he loved\u00a0the\u00a0idea\u00a0of the program.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After three years of\u00a0hard work, the website\u00a0has\u00a0finally\u00a0been\u00a0published,\u00a0and\u00a0the training program has been set up.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The program\u00a0teaches\u00a0pharmacists\u00a0how to approach patients and providers as well as the barriers to deprescribing.\u00a0The program also teaches pharmacists and care providers\u00a0how to go about deprescribing in many different settings.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe program teaches\u00a0about\u00a0all\u00a0the\u00a0different care settings where\u00a0pharmacists would\u00a0engage,\u201d Jeffery said. \u201cWe created scenarios\u00a0for not just long-term care settings with older adults, but also with primary care clinics and hospital bedside\u00a0settings.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeffery\u00a0also\u00a0talked about\u00a0the questions that may be asked by providers or pharmacists to start deprescribing such as, \u201cif you could stop a\u00a0medication\u00a0you are on today what would be the first one you stop?\u201d\u00a0Or,\u00a0\u201cWhat is one medication you don\u2019t want me to touch?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeffery\u2019s also\u00a0mentioned\u00a0that\u00a0anyone could start exploring deprescribing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe easiest\u00a0way\u00a0is\u00a0having a conversation with\u00a0either\u00a0yourself or family\u00a0about what matters most to people and to make sure they are able to articulate what matters to them,\u201d Jeffery said. \u201cYou can help somebody to tee-up that conversation for when they go see their provider.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that\u00a0there is always an opportunity to\u00a0deprescribe.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAsking is this the right mix\u00a0of medications? Are you experiencing side effects? Is there something we can do to help simplify this?\u00a0Can help\u00a0medication professionals create the opportunity for deprescribing,\u201d Jeffery\u2019s said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can learn\u00a0more\u00a0about deprescribing\u00a0or many other courses the\u00a0APhA\u00a0provides\u00a0<\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sean Jeffery and the American Pharmacists Association have launched a new Patient-Centered Deprescribing in Older Adults Training Program on their new website. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":241491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1864],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2715],"class_list":["post-241490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pharm"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-06 15:02:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241490"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241495,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241490\/revisions\/241495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/241491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241490"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=241490"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=241490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}